Sing With Me If It's Just for Today
by CorrosiveMidnight
Summary: AU. Modernish. Sacred Stones. Slash. Basically a somewhat random, somewhat incoherent story about several male-on-male pairings, some more random than others. Just a little something to pour my brain into while I work on other, more stable stories.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: [AU. Sacred Stones Slash.] Basically a somewhat random story about several male on male pairings, some more random than others. Just a little something to pour my brain into while I work on other, more coherent stories. I think the main pairing here is Artur and Knoll, but I can't be too sure yet.

---------------

_Warning: In case you didn't know from the pairing in the summary, this is a male/male type thing. If you do not enjoy or are not interested in reading such things, please turn away._

---------------

Disclaimer: I think it's well-documented that this site was put here for people who do not own the characters herein. But in case you didn't know, I'll fill you in. I own neither Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, nor the characters associated with that particular game. I would also like to add that this story is not to be mistaken as being true to the story line or the actual characters of the game. I am simply using them to entertain myself and anyone who may be interested in reading this work of fan fiction.

---------------

a/n: Sorry. Sometimes things come to me and I just run with them. I'm not sure where this is set or anything. It's all in good fun, so I hope you enjoy.

----------------

_Sing With Me If It's Just for Today_

_by CorrosiveMidnight_

----------------

--Part 1: Artur and Knoll....

----------------

Artur never would've guessed that Knoll would want to put together a male chorus, let alone recruit HIM as the pianist. But only this morning Artur received an email asking him if he'd like to play piano for the chorus. Actually, the Druid had admitted that he wanted this to be a reunion of sorts and would be inviting practically every man who had been in their troop during the Great War. Artur wasn't even sure about these guys' singing abilities, so he had no idea how successful or unsuccessful this group would be.

But regardless of his doubt, Artur arrived at the building Knoll had reserved for their group to rehearse in so that he could meet with his chorus leader. The place was basically like a small auditorium.

"Welcome, Artur," Knoll said once Artur had closed the door.

Artur listened as Knoll's voice reverberated around the room and raised his eyebrows. "Hi, Knoll. I was a little surprised to hear that you wanted to set up a chorus of all things. What made you think to do something like this?"

Knoll lead Artur up on the stage and sat him in front of the piano that was set up there. "Well, I remembered you saying that you play and I'd heard Cormag sing when he thought I wasn't listening. He has the most amazing first tenor voice and I'd love for him to be our soloist. Besides, if we all fought a war together, we'd have more than enough chemistry to sing together."

"But you've never actually heard the rest of the guys sing," Artur said. "Not everyone has that kind of talent. And not everyone can be taught to sing."

"Well, that's why I have you here, Artur. I used to watch you out on the field. You have a knack for teaching people things. You showed half the troops how to get maximum effectiveness out of a vulnerary. I've even seen you show Ewan how to properly execute anima spells, even though you don't use them yourself. And people are naturally drawn to you," Knoll added quietly.

Artur blushed a little. He had no idea that Knoll had been paying attention to the things he did on the field so much. "Oh.... Well..., anyone would've done the same."

"Artur, please. Since I lost my best friend Lyon, I lost interest in just about everything else. This is the only thing that has brought light to my life again," Knoll said.

The young Bishop saw the look in Knoll's eyes. This sad individual was asking him for help. Who was he to deny this man his dream? "Okay. If we have a big enough turnout for this chorus, then I'll gladly work with you." He gave a smile.

"Thank you, Artur. You don't know what this means to me," Knoll said. "We should find some music we'd want to work on. Of course, you'll have first pick, since you'll be playing it." Knoll pulled out a box full of music scores. "And if there are songs you already know that you'd like to work on and we don't have it, we can always find it someplace."

Artur never thought he'd see Knoll, a usually solemn Druid, so excited about something. There was even a smile on his face, something Artur had never seen. He quickly looked away from Knoll and stared at the ebony and ivory before him. "Well, I-I do have a few songs I used to practice. One is called 'Love of My Life' by Queen." He slowly placed his hands on the keys and began to play....

----------

--soon....

----------

Knoll was sitting on the piano bench beside Artur, staring at the keys silently.

Artur's hands were shaking slightly after he'd finished playing. He'd never put so much passion into something that it caused his entire body to tremble. It was an all new feeling for him. He looked over at his new partner.

"That...was beautiful. Really. You feel what you play, just as expected," Knoll said quietly, as if not to disturb the atmosphere of the song that had already ended. "I have to ask, is there a love of _your_ life? I mean, because you played that song with so much emotion."

Artur laughed and reddened with embarrassment. "No, no, I don't have one of those. But I'm really glad that you liked the song, though it's a little empty without the lyrics."

"That song was far from empty," Knoll told him. "Not with the way you played it." He slowly reached over and placed his hand atop Artur's, startling the young Bishop. "I'm sorry. I just had to feel where all that talent was coming from," Knoll added.

Artur reddened even more as he looked at Knoll's hand on his.

"Though I think where your talent is coming is more...," Knoll began as his hand slowly moved up to Artur's chest, "...from here."

Artur quickly stood up and cleared his throat. "Um, well, thank you for the compliments, but I think that we should also let our singers decide what songs they'd like to sing."

"You're right," Knoll agreed. "In order for them to put the amount of feeling into the songs they sing, they should probably chose songs as well."

Artur, still flustered from what Knoll had done, nodded. "Yes, well, I'll be going then. We can't very well chose songs for singers who aren't here."

"Artur...," Knoll said as the Bishop was heading toward the door.

Artur turned back toward Knoll. "Yes?"

"Thank you for doing this. I'd like to assign parts for the chorus tomorrow and I'll need your help."

"Yes. I'll be here early," Artur said. He hurried out of the auditorium, wondering what would become of this chorus and mostly what would become of his closeness to its director.

----------------

_To be continued...._

----------------

a/n: Well, that got off to a slow start, but that's just to establish things. I'll write another couple of chapters before I decide whether I should 86 this story or not. Let me know what you think, even though you can't think much of it yet since nothing has really happened. Thanks anyway. Next chapter we'll take a look at a different pairing.


	2. Chapter 2

a/n: Uh-oh! It looks like I'm in trouble here. Not only am I not a choir aficionado (which if you couldn't tell from the first chapter, you're really about to find out throughout the rest of this story), but I didn't really fully explain what this story is. The setting of this story is completely messed up, yet most events from the game remain in tact. A very cruddy mix of the two worlds. Not completely set in modern times, but with plenty of modern conveniences (especially of the musical kind).

a/n: Any confusion this causes, I apologize, and I know this type of confusion can lead to reader frustration, but this story is really the result of writer frustration and the "fugitive mind".

----------------

Sing With Me If It's Just for Today  
by CorrosiveMidnight

----------------

--Part 2: Cormag and Gilliam....

----------------

As Gilliam walked into the auditorium, he heard the sound of piano scales playing softly and Knoll talking with someone about being the soloist. The black-haired General was fairly confident in his vocal talents, so why was it that their director was already assigning a soloist?

"I knew you wanted singers, but I had no idea you wanted me to be a soloist," Gilliam heard Cormag tell Knoll.

(Knoll is asking Cormag to be the soloist?) Gilliam thought upon walking down the aisle of the auditorium. (Cormag of all people?)

"Cormag, please. You're the only one of the men I asked here that I've heard sing. You have a fantastic voice and I think you should share that voice with the world," Knoll pleaded.

Cormag frowned. "I've already gone against my better judgment by joining this chorus. I would really rather not call so much more attention to myself."

"If he doesn't want the part, I'll take it," Gilliam announced once he finally made it to the foot of the stage.

The piano scales halted and all eyes were suddenly on the General.

"Ah, Gilliam, you made it," Knoll greeted. "Please come up on stage with us."

"This is already a better turnout than I expected," Artur said from his seat at the piano.

"Now, Gilliam. You said that you would like to be the soloist. Would you care to show me why I should allow you to have that position?" Knoll asked.

Without further hesitation, Gilliam belted out stunning vocals, captivating everyone in the room, including Cormag.

"What range," Knoll said. "With your vocal strength alone, you could probably carry this entire choir." He looked at Cormag. "But it would be a great contrast to the mellow and airy sound that Cormag produces." He turned to Artur. "What do you think? Would you like to have dual leads instead?"

----------

--a little later....

----------

The two lead vocalists sat in the back of the auditorium as other members auditioned for their parts.

"When I came here, I had no intention of being in the spotlight," Cormag began. "I only wanted to do something that I've secretly enjoyed for a long time."

Gilliam just looked at Cormag for a moment. "You've never even performed in front of anyone before?"

"No, I've been a soldier all my life," Cormag told him.

"Well, so have I, but when there were military banquets, I would perform. It wasn't a big deal at first, but the more I did it, the more I felt that it was my calling. I just didn't know how to go about achieving my dream. And then this opportunity came along and I just knew that this was my chance to shine," Gilliam explained.

Cormag frowned. "I had no idea. But it was only at Knoll's insistence that I became one of the lead vocalists. I had no intention of fronting a group like this. I still don't look forward to it."

Gilliam sighed. "Listen. Even though I'm more qualified, you're in this with me. All you really need is practice." He thought for a moment. "Karaoke."

"I don't know, Gilliam," Cormag mumbled.

"No, it's perfect. You just need some experience singing in front of people," Gilliam said. "We can go to a few karaoke bars and before you know it, you'll be singing in front of people like a pro."

Cormag looked doubtful. "If you say so."

"That's right. I DO say so. We'll go after we leave here," Gilliam told him.

----------

--at a local karaoke bar....

----------

Cormag looked at the stage from his seat at the bar. "I'm not going up there."

"Well, I anticipated that you'd say that," Gilliam commented. He signaled to the bartender for two beers. Once their drinks arrived, he slammed a mug down in front of Cormag. "How about it?"

Cormag finally took his eyes off the stage. "What's this?"

"It's stage-fright medicine. So make sure you take a big dose," the General said. "And once you're loosened up, you and I can go up on stage and show these people what real singing is."

--many drinks later....

Gilliam and Cormag were up on stage singing Alice in Chains' "Shame in You". While their voices were perfectly matched, the two were inebriated beyond repair and had to support each other to keep from falling over. They also couldn't really read the words and some of the song became a series of slurred speech and hums, but they were good nonetheless.

The audience cheered for both of them as they left the stage and it startled Cormag so much that he missed a step and stumbled while Gilliam was holding onto him. Unfortunately, Gilliam didn't have enough balance to keep Cormag upright, so he toppled down right on top of him. Both men laughed.

"This is a lot of fun and all, but you're really heavy, Gill," Cormag said very slowly between giggles.

Gilliam giggled as well, but didn't move. "Hey, wanna do another song? Everyone seems to love us."

"I think one is enough for one day," Cormag almost said properly. "But I have an idea. How about you get up?"

They both burst out laughing.

"Hard to breathe," Cormag added, still laughing.

"Oh! You want me to get you off," Gilliam said. He rolled off of Cormag, but stayed on the floor beside him and thought for a minute. "Did I say 'get off you' or 'get you off'?"

"I don't know," Cormag told him. "But I don't think I can get up. The room won't be still."

"You're drunk," Gilliam said, finally getting to his feet. "I'll call a cab." He stumbled a little before he helped Cormag to his feet.

"I'm not drunk," it took Cormag a while to say. "You're drunk." He put an arm around Gilliam for support.

"Yeah, I'm a little drunk. That's why I'm calling a cab instead of driving," Gilliam said slowly. He dragged Cormag out of the bar and looked around for a taxi.

"Hey, we really did it, didn't we? We were singing in front of people. It felt kinda good," Cormag said, drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Yeah. You did good," Gilliam told him as he spotted a cab.

----------------

To be continued....

----------------

a/n: Well, there you have it. That's the end of that chapter. But these two might be back in a later chapter. (At least I hope they will. That was really a bad place to end it.) The next will be about another pair, however. These gentlemen are also very out of character as well, but that's only to be expected when it's not really a...fact-based story. Thanks for reading and please comment.


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: So the story's not all that interesting. I can live with that. It's really here to just set my overactive mind to task while I put my "focused energies" into my more "focused stories". I believe I've said that before. Oh well. On with the story.

----------------

_Sing With Me If It's Just for Today_

_by CorrosiveMidnight_

----------------

--Part 3: Innes and Ewan....

----------------

More men had shown up, parts had been assigned and they were now being seated according to their parts.

"Hey, kid. How did you manage to get a first tenor part? Shouldn't you be with the sopranos or something?" Innes said with an arrogant smirk.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, old man," Ewan bit back. "There are no sopranos, nor are there altos."

Innes growled at the little Mage. "You little jerk. Don't call me 'old man'. I'm only about five years older than you."

"Hey, older is older no matter how much the margin," Ewan laughed.

"You arrogant little--" Innes began.

A hand was placed on Innes' shoulder. "Look who's calling whom arrogant." It was Ephraim. "Leave him alone." He waved at Ewan. "How's it going, Ewan? It's been a while."

Innes turned to Ephraim, then looked at Ewan, who was smiling brightly at Ephraim. The Sniper frowned. He'd always been attracted to Ephraim, but with the smile Ewan had on his face, perhaps he wasn't the only one. He narrowed his eyes at both of them.

"Hi, Ephraim. I never would've thought that you'd join a singing group," Ewan commented.

"Well, I was told that it was a reunion, but when I showed up and saw all this, I figured that it couldn't hurt to try it out," Ephraim explained. "I haven't really had anything interesting to do since the war anyway."

Ewan laughed again. "I hear you."

"Clearly you two don't have anything to do outside of fighting for your lives," Innes finally spoke up.

Ephraim was about to say something, but Kyle had tapped on his shoulder. The Great Lord abandoned all else and began chatting with Kyle without a second thought.

"Hmph. What's with that?" Innes asked himself. "How rude."

Ewan laughed. "Didn't you know?"

Innes looked at the little Mage and narrowed his eyes. "Know? Know what?"

"Those two have been humping each other since the war," Ewan told him quietly. "I thought you of all people would know something like that. I mean, you and Ephraim are childhood friends, right?"

Innes just looked at Ewan for a while before asking, "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, 'What do you mean'?" Ewan whispered.

"I mean, what do you mean by 'humping each other'?" Innes questioned.

"What? Do you need a sex ed lesson? Let me put it in a way that your obviously slow brain can comprehend. Those two are gay and they are together. Get it?" Ewan explained.

"Gay? No, not Ephraim," Innes murmured. (All these years I've been afraid that he's as straight as an arrow and somehow Kyle comes in and sweeps Ephraim off his feet? I won't believe it. Not Ephraim. Not by that rigid, stone-faced moron,) he thought.

"I've seen it with my own eyes," Ewan whispered. "I just assumed you knew."

Innes paused for a long time, blank of mind and weary of heart.

"And from the look on your face, you're pretty disappointed about it," Ewan said with a laugh. "What's the problem? Do you have a thing for Ephraim or something?"

Innes' face reddened a bit.

Ewan looked surprised. "No way! You really do, don't you? I was just kidding." He laughed even louder.

"Shut up, brat," Innes muttered.

"Who ever would've thought that the guy who could have everything would want something that he couldn't have?" Ewan went on. "This is great. Now I can tease you until I'm just tired of it."

Innes folded his arms across his chest and slumped in his chair. (Impossible. Utterly impossible. I wanted him first.)

"You're pouting," Ewan said to him. "Listen, you can't let something like this bother you. I mean, you're Innes of Frelia. The man who's archery skills have lain to waste hundreds on the battlefield."

"Don't know if it was hundreds," Innes murmured.

"Well, you're not being your usual confident self," Ewan said.

Suddenly Knoll was on stage. "Alright guys. We have exactly what we need here. Different men of different singing abilities. Now let me introduce you to your leads. Cormag, Gilliam, if you please."

As the two men began making their way to the stage, Knoll went on. "What I'd like to do for today is look at some pieces we all may want to do. If you'd like to suggest something we don't have here with us today, then Artur and I will gladly find them and bring them in."

Artur nodded as Knoll went on speaking to the gentlemen.

"I should just quit," Innes murmured to himself.

"What? Why?" Ewan asked him.

"Well, I came all this way just for the chance to see him. I don't have a reason for being here now," Innes said.

"Oh, don't be such a big crybaby. And you called ME a brat?" Ewan asked. "You're more of a brat than I'll ever be."

Innes only pouted more.

"Come on. If you stick around, I can make it worth your while," Ewan said. He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

The Sniper looked at Ewan strangely. "Worth my while?"

"You'll see. In the meantime, you should pay attention to what's going on," Ewan told him.

Innes narrowed his eyes at the little Mage. (What's that tricky little devil got up his sleeve now?) he thought.

----------

--afterwards....

----------

Everyone was just leaving the auditorium and Innes had basically decided that he was ready to give up on this whole chorus thing. He'd also completely forgotten about Ewan's earlier comment until he was pulled behind the auditorium.

"What the--?" Innes asked. He looked at his attacker and sighed when he saw that it was Ewan. "Oh, it's you."

"Yup, it's me," Ewan said. "I told you that I'd make staying worth your while, didn't I?"

Innes rolled his eyes. "Right," he said sarcastically. "And just how do you plan on doing that?"

Ewan smirked and pushed Innes up against the wall. "I'll show you."

When Innes noticed that Ewan was kneeling before him, his mind became cloudy. "Wha--?" Before he was able to finish his question, he felt his pants being undone. All he saw was the mess of red hair begin bobbing as his most intimate body part was enveloped by a wet warmth that drove him completely out of his mind. Had the younger man's hands not been holding his hips steady, he surely would've impaled the Mage.

Only a short moment passed and it was all over, the Sniper leaning breathless against the wall.

Ewan was seated at Innes' feet, licking his lips. "Well, that was fun." He hopped to his feet and straightened Innes' clothes for him. "I had a feeling it would be. Let's do it again next time."

Innes' mind hadn't had a chance to stop reeling before Ewan had disappeared.

It suddenly seemed as though he would continue coming to rehearsals.

----------------

_To be continued...._

----------------

a/n: Whoops! That was naughtier than I intended. Hopefully it wasn't too tasteless. Maybe we'll see this couple develop more in a later chapter. Who knows? In the event that there is a next chapter, it will be about yet another couple. So far, so good.


End file.
